Teacher Guide | Grade 3 ELA | FL B.E.S.T. Standard: ELA.3.R.1.3
Benchmark: Explain different characters' perspectives in a literary text.
Clarification: Students should be able to identify who is telling the story (point of view) AND explain how different characters see, think about, and feel about events differently (perspective).
WHO is telling the story; the narrator's position
The narrator is a character in the story (uses "I," "me," "my")
The narrator is outside the story (uses "he," "she," "they," names)
HOW a character thinks, feels, and sees events
The voice that tells the story
A person, animal, or figure in a story
| Point of View | Perspective |
|---|---|
| WHO tells the story | HOW someone sees events |
| Look for pronouns (I/me vs. he/she/they) | Look for thoughts, feelings, opinions |
| Usually stays the same throughout a story | Different characters have different perspectives |
| Technical term about narration | About understanding characters' viewpoints |
Set up two chairs facing each other. After reading a story, have students sit in each chair to explain events from each character's perspective. The physical movement helps cement the concept.
Describe a simple classroom scenario (someone drops their lunch tray). Have groups write about it from different perspectives: the student who dropped it, a friend watching, the cafeteria worker, etc.
Read a familiar fairy tale, then discuss it from a different character's perspective. Example: How does the wolf see events in "The Three Little Pigs"? What about the brick supplier?
Create cards with questions: "What does [character] WANT?" "What does [character] KNOW?" "How does [character] FEEL?" Students use these to analyze any story.
| Question Type | Example Stem |
|---|---|
| Point of View Identification | "From what point of view is the story told?" |
| POV Evidence | "Which sentence shows that the story is told from first-person point of view?" |
| Character Perspective | "How does [character] feel about [event]?" |
| Comparing Perspectives | "How is [Character A]'s perspective different from [Character B]'s?" |
| Text Evidence | "Which detail from the story BEST shows [character]'s perspective?" |
| Misconception | Clarification |
|---|---|
| "Point of view and perspective are the same thing" | POV = who tells the story. Perspective = how someone thinks/feels. They're related but different. |
| "The main character's perspective is always the narrator's" | Third-person stories can focus on one character but be told by an outside narrator. |
| "All characters in a story have the same perspective" | Characters have different experiences, knowledge, and feelings—so they see things differently. |
| "I can tell perspective just by how the character acts" | Look for thoughts, feelings, and what the character says, not just actions. |
• Use color-coding: blue for first-person pronouns, green for third-person
• Provide sentence frames: "[Character] feels ___ because ___"
• Focus on one character's perspective before comparing two
• Use familiar stories where perspectives are very clear
• Analyze unreliable narrators (when the narrator might not be telling the full truth)
• Write the same scene from three different perspectives
• Explore how perspective affects theme and message
• Compare perspective across different versions of the same story